BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston and state officials have sent a cease and desist order to the company that hosted a crowded cruise in Boston Harbor over the weekend, telling them to stop those operations immediately.
The state Division of Labor Standards and the Boston Publice Health Commission sent the cease and desist order to Bay State Cruise Company Monday, two days after photos of their vessel Provincetown II showed hundreds of people crowding the upper deck during a cruise in the Harbor.
“”This weekend’s mass gathering on a boat in the harbor represents a serious threat to public health, which is why today the Boston Public Health Commission together with the state’s Department of Labor Standards issued a cease-and-desist order to Bay State Cruise Company,” Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement. “We’ve made great sacrifices and worked hard over the last few months to stop the very real and very dangerous spread of COVID-19, and it’s vital every person and every business take this public health emergency seriously, and do their part to keep their families, neighbors and communities safe.”
A Bay State Cruise Company spokesperson said Sunday that the company is operating in accordance with state guidelines for businesses under phase three of the state’s re-opening plan, with 33 percent capacity to allow for six feet of social distancing, and said the breeze across decks helped reduce the possibility of contagion. But the cease and desist order says summer music cruises and group charters are not eligible to re-open until phase four.
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